The Lightbearer and The Righteous Man (Discontinued)
by Trenchcoat Angel Of the Lord
Summary: When Dean Winchester walked into church on a Sunday morning, he wasn't expecting a certain blue-eyed priest to come into his life. Listening to sermons and singing the religious every time the sun rose were all fine and dandy, but what he really enjoyed was getting to know Castiel after the sessions. Maybe church isn't so bad after all? (Cover Image Is By msloveless on Deviant)
1. Chapter 1

The last place Dean expected himself to be on one of his precious Sunday mornings, or any morning for that matter, was a church. He had never found the appeal of waking up at an early hour, most even getting up earlier to properly ready themselves in former clothing, and then leaving to go to an overcrowded building with hard pews. These seats are where people sat to be preached at and promised things such as salvation if they followed a rightful path void of sins.

The entire idea of church and even religion with a holy entity was an idea that wasn't foreign to him, mostly due to his brother, who seemed to be appealed by the views along with other family members. However, factors in his life like his recurring alcohol dependence had still led him to finally taking the advice that his brother gave him; to try and attend some sort of service. That's why Dean was currently parking the impala in a crowding parking lot at the church, while in an irritating white button-down paired with a black tie that was too tight for comfort.

Castiel Novak. He was the son of a very well known priest in the church he had gone to all his life. Taking after his father's work, he decided to become a priest himself. There were some days after morning ceremonies where people would come up and say their blessings to him and how they were very thankful. It made him happy, but he always felt a little awkward getting such praise.

The priest looked into the mirror to adjust his outfit and walked out into the main room to stand behind the podium. Services didn't start for a few minutes, but he was double-checking everything was ready on his end as he looked downwards at his notes.

Dean did not know what to expect from the church, or more like he didn't know what to expect of the people. He understood that he was going to be told that certain things were good and others were bad and that in the end their lives here would affect where they go when they finally kicked the bucket. He didn't know anyone attending for obvious reasons, not to mention he was an unfamiliar face that was treading into the building on his own. Many others were with their families, mothers holding their children's hands as they walked off to make their ways to pews. There were couples, both old and young alike that went together to find areas to sit and prepare for the upcoming session.

He felt out of place and like he stuck out like a sore thumb, especially with the way he slunk off to the side and almost immediately perched himself into the very end of a pew; his head was virtually remaining fully down as he walked.

Castiel was glancing up now and then to look at all the people shuffling in. One man, in particular, piqued his interest. He seemed to be about his age. He wore a buttoned-down shirt and a black tie but walked in with his head down. The priest knew this man was dealing with incredible pain, or he was a first-timer. Or both. He decided he should greet him after service.

Once everyone was seated, he cleared his throat, "Ahem. We will begin morning services with a song to greet everyone and get the morning started. Let us rise and sing the lyrics on the screen together," he turned on the lyrics for the morning prayer song on a TV to the side of the room.

Dean had no intention of openly interacting with some of the people of the church. He was simply going to come once or twice, and if he didn't think it was merely a load of crap, he needed to have a false sense of hope and importance, he would consider returning. Dean wanted to change that feeling, but at the same time it was difficult to drop those deeply embedded thoughts. His fingers rubbed at the very bottom of his tie. His fingers were flicking the end between his index and middle fingers to occupy himself. Dean's eyebrows furrowed. He wasn't aware that he needed to sing.

As others almost eagerly began to jump to their feet, he meekly rose, his shoulders stiff and squared, yet hunched and slightly lowered, wishing to remain inconspicuous between the other attendees.

As the crowd started singing, Castiel kept his eye on the man with the buttoned-down shirt. He was careful enough to make sure the man didn't know he was keeping an eye on him. Cas sang along with the song as he always did. He wasn't much of a singer, but he had been told his voice was very calming to the ears, and his voice was like honey. As the music faded, he turned to face the crowd and cleared his throat before starting the service officially.

First, with a greeting as always, "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord be with you."

The audience chimed in, "And with your spirit."

Dean felt like he was in a situation similar to when he was listening to the radio, and a song came on that he knew. He somewhat had heard of it before, but once he tried to sing the lyrics, it was a struggle to cling to the words and try to follow along. He was starting to regret the choice he made on coming here, finding the decision to be outrageous, considering he just walked into this almost like a blind fool.

Dean was almost too relieved when the hymn ended. Instantly grasping at the unbuttoned sides and sinking back down into his seat. Dean wasn't taking the words the priest said seriously, his mind loosely grasping at the phrases of the Holy Spirit and Lord Jesus Christ half-heartedly as he gave some sort of attempt to let it sink in.

Despite his inability to fully take it in, he did have to credit the priest solely for what already appeared like pure dedication and honest enjoyment from him saying the phrase.

As for when it came time for the group to chime in, Dean almost missed it, having to rush in the last moment and speed his words in a hushed breath to finish in time.

Castiel continued with the central part of the service after taking a sip of water, "Brethrens, let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries. I confess to Almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do. May Almighty God have mercy on us, forgive our sins, and bring us to everlasting life."

The audience chimed in once more, "Amen."

Castiel watched the audience as two volunteers came up and offered bread and wine that represented the body and blood of Christ to the people.

Dean was listening to the words that were being said instead of the voice that was projecting them to the crowd. It was more captivating to him compared to the phrases and holy words being spoken.

Once the dark-haired priest began to explain that even though he suffered through sins both in thought and word, he was a little humored as well as relieved in away. If even a holy man such as him could commit crimes and live a life that would surely allow him into Heaven, he still would have some form of chance.

Dean tucked his fingers into his pockets, his fingertips brushing across the silken pouches absentmindedly while his eyes sharply watched as people began to take the bread and wine that was offered out.

Castiel was a priest, but that didn't mean he was a saint. He had made mistakes earlier in his life but decided to change his ways and follow his father's profession. He had never told anyone about his past as he kept it close to his heart.

"Let us begin the closing prayer before I greet all of you, and thank you for coming. Lord Jesus Christ, who said to your Apostles; Peace I leave you, my peace I give you; look not on our sins, but on the faith of your church, and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will. Who live and reign forever and ever. The peace of the Lord be with you always. Go forth; the Mass has ended."

The audience chimed in one last time, "Amen."

Dean knew everyone was human, and he was confident that no person had ever gone without committing at least one of them within their lifetime. Still, it was relieving just to be reminded of that, given the circumstances of why he attended the Mass in the first place.

Despite his pleased state with his words and his growing understanding within the lore and possible appeal of it, he was still hesitant and wasn't in belief just yet. He wasn't too sure if he ever would be, but he couldn't pass up the opportunity to try and do something good for himself, as church and spirituality had been described by people close to him as almost therapeutic. He announced in sync with 'Amen' with the rest of the mass attendees, pausing for a moment to watch as others rose to their feet to speak with others and leave.

The priest with blue eyes removed himself from the podium and came off stage to greet a line of people and thank their hands. There were singles, couples, families, siblings, and young adults of all races and sizes. The line of guests was not as long as it usually was, but he didn't mind. He gazed at his eyes over to the new man in his white collared shirt once more, before returning to a family with two small children, whom he got down on one knee and greeted with a short handshake and warm smile.

Dean pushed himself up by using the arm of the pew, his other hand grasping the back of the bench in front of him. He didn't wish to run out in haste, not wanting to be rude or show any form of discomfort, but at the same time, he didn't want to linger long enough to make it seem like he wished to talk to a member of the church. Lord knows he didn't want to stay around long enough to be interrogated on his presence.

Dean's eyes briefly skimmed across the spacious church, his eyes very quickly catching the gaze of the priest. The contact was short, even to the point where he only found the color of them and almost didn't register it fully. With that having occurred, his eyes repositioned, subtly watching the other lower himself to the floor to greet the two small children.

The line got smaller, and soon there were a couple of families left. Castiel didn't mind greeting the people because he knew he was a sign of positivity and reassurance for them. They viewed him as someone who they can come to if they needed advice on any matters without judgment. That's what kept him going and smiling at him every Sunday, even when some mornings were more exhausting than others. People depended on him, but he also kept himself in check because of all those faithful people.

He recognized some folks came to have the support and weren't connected to religion; that church was a safe and not judgemental place to be. The last family came up to him and wanted a prayer for their daughter, who was in the hospital fighting cancer. Castiel nodded and prayed with them to give them hope.

Dean, given that he had taken note of the priest and had made his presence known to him through sight, was now open to a third option, which included going to thank for the service and then making his thoughts about his desires quick escape.

After all, he logically thought that this man wouldn't question him and would just take the thanks and carry on with his day. Hell, maybe the guy wouldn't even realize that he was a new face and would simply think he was someone from here and disregard his presence.

Dean wasn't all too knowing of the other church functions, but from what he could tell, the group did seem tight-knit with the way so many went up to talk. He absentmindedly, and more of wanting to distract himself, grasped for his phone and pulled it from his pocket to briefly check the alerts he had on the device.

Once Castiel was finished with the family and all the others were heading for the door, he noticed the new man standing around and checking his cell phone. He smiled amused and decided it would be best to introduce himself at least. He didn't know why he was here, but he had a very good hunch. It was none of his business to bring up such matters. It was the person in question job to do so when they were comfortable. He would always offer an ear to listen, nothing which it was.

He roamed with silent footsteps and put on a gentle smile, holding out a hand, "Good morning to you. I recognize you're new here. Don't worry; I won't bite or make you some type of devout follower if you shake my hand."

Dean didn't even really have a reason to be on his cell phone. He was just checking with an absent mind to waste time, which was shocking given that he wanted to desperately leave, even to the point where he was plotting and scheming a way to go without attention being drawn to him.

He did feel a little dumb though just standing there in his phone, gawking down at the screen like he had no purpose and was just standing around like a lost puppy.

Eventually, he saw a pair of shoes pop up in the corner of his eye. His eyes were directed to the shoes before going up to scan his body and meeting his face. He quickly shoved the device into his pocket and glanced at his hand before reaching and grabbing it.

"Yeah, you don't look like a fella that would force me to shotgun holy water," he joked with a sheepish grin.

Castiel laughed softly at his comment seeing that this man had a sense of humor. Even though he was a priest, he was not uptight like all the others he had met. He was only earnest when doing services or greeting families. Even though this guy was new and he had never seen him before, Cas somehow felt drawn to him and thought he was possibly overthinking things.

"Haha, I like your sense of humor, but yes, I definitely won't do that either. I just wanted to come and introduce myself. I am Castiel, priest of this small church you are standing in. I hope you did not find the service too forceful or pressing in terms of where religion is concerned. I try to conduct an open-minded service that everyone can connect to."

Dean liked to say that he could be rather comical at times with the comments he could make during certain situations, but even then, he wasn't overbearing with the remarks he made, or at least he didn't believe so. Dean was justifying the interaction as merely looking at what he was dealing with in the unfamiliar environment. He reasoned that the least he could do was try to get in and interact with the priest.

"No, no, it seemed alright." He assured giving his hand a final grip before he loosened and dropped Castiel's hand, "I'm Dean. I don't have much of anything special to share with you or any comments to make, but you did well up there. A lot of' people seem pleased with what you do."

He smiled when Dean shook his hand and then returned it to his side, "I would hope they are happy with what I do; they are the driving force of all of this. You don't have to make any comments or tell me why you decided to attend today's services. That is an absolute closed door for you to open if you ever want to. I will give myself credit for being a good listener. There are some mornings that are longer than others when greeting people, but I do it because they need reassurance and to know that whatever they believe is keeping them strong through troubled times. If the people did not attend, I would not do any service. I know from experience it can be intimidating at first."

Castiel looked into the man's bright green eyes. Behind that brightness was a deep pain rooted within him.

Dean was fascinated with the way he spoke about church and its people as well as how he was dependent on their attendance and belief to keep doing what he did, which helped people. Dean wasn't someone who disliked helping people, but having that sort of mindset just seemed hard to do when he struggled with his shit. The words were reassuring, though, and it gave him a little bit of a liking to the idea of returning.

For now, he was conflicted still on do much if he was still eligible for some sort of salvation or if he even deserved it. Not to mention where he was, the more looming question of it was there some sort of higher power that was real or was he just wasting his time and energy.

"Yeah, I guess you can say intimidating." He agreed, moving to grasp his fingers around the wrist of his other hand where he pinched the skin of his hand with his thumb, "Didn't expect there to be singing, but I'll know if there's a next time." He said with a chuckle.

The blue-eyed priest could see he was rightfully torn about returning. It was new, and it was incredibly vulnerable. At least, that's how Castiel felt with his first meeting. He was not the type of priest who pushes a person into coming back, even if he thinks it would be best to be surrounded by people to know you are not alone. It was his choice, and he respected that.

"If you do decide to return, I will be here, of course. Feel free to come when you're comfortable doing so. There is always a morning song to start the day, but you don't have to sing. I could tell you were lip singing, haha," he lightly jokes, "Leave with the thought that this experience is what you want it to be, not what everyone else is forcing it to be for you with their personal beliefs. I shall let you go, but I hope to see you again soon."

Dean had many feelings about the experience. He had been uncomfortable coming in alone into an environment that was utterly unknown to him due to his lack of ever being inside a church. There was the possible exception of when he was a small child, but even then, he couldn't remember if that happened or not.

He was still on shaky ground both in the sense of his belief of God itself and the belief in the possibility of changing his ways to make himself better both here and the next life. Plus, he thought it could've been too late to reverse the sins he followed in like adultery and consumption of alcohol.

Dean let his eyes drop to the floor mindlessly, a soft chuckle leaving his lips to the comment he made on the singing. "What can I say, I didn't take choir back in school." He joked further, his eyes flicking back up to glance at the other while listening intently to his words, "Yeah, I'll straggle myself in again sooner or later…" he assured, his gaze averting again to glance across the windows. "Have a good rest of your day, Cas." He said with a faint curve of his lips before turning with his hand coming to rub against his jaw.

Cas smiled," To you as well, Dean." He turned around and decided to check on a few things in the church before going in the backroom to change out of his service outfit. The young priest made sure everything was correctly aligned in the main room and turned off the projector. Down the hallway through a door in the back, he undressed his top half and changed into a more comfortable shirt, running his hands through his hair. He was happy Dean was coming back, but he only just met the guy, why was he so satisfied on him specifically? He shook his head to dismiss the thought.

Dean was growing fonder of the idea of returning, which in turn increased the possibility of him coming back to church for another one of the sermons Castiel was to give. The fact that he knew someone, at least to some degree, even if it was slight, already made the environment less foreign. His hands made their way back to his silken pockets, his fingers closing around his car keys and phone, which were inside of them as he strolled back to his car in a casual manner.

Dean found himself rather happy after the sermon, as well as the exchange he received. It was nice to get out of a view of a simple store, his job, or, more frequently, a bar to interact with others who were still nothing like whom he had spoken to before.

Castiel grabbed his car keys and made sure to lock everything up since he was the last to leave the building. He walked out of the church and into his car he had; a dark blue Ford Thunderbird. It was retro, but Cas was proud of it that he won the car at an auction out of pure luck. He started the engine and was debating where he should go for lunch. He thought of that nice diner that opened up not too long ago.

Dean had already gotten into his car throughout his small mental debate on the pros and cons of the experience, having slid into the black Impala driver's seat and starting up the car with an obnoxious roar of the engine before pulling out. He wasn't sure what to do given the fact that on a Sunday, he would've been just getting up at this time at home and wouldn't be productive. He felt like he couldn't go home and undress and shut down any sense of productiveness.

He ended up settling on driving to a shopping center, deciding upon getting groceries for the week because it was simple enough of a task to do.


	2. Chapter 2

Castiel gathered his papers upon his podium once more. He had chosen a specific topic as he did after the first Sunday of every month. His icy blue eyes wandered, looking into the crowd seeing everyone who was coming inside this morning. He went ahead and turned on the projector, but did not play the music yet.

Dean had made his choice on church, at least regarding his attendance. Sure, the big questions weren't answered yet. Still, he figured that he could quickly come to enjoy attending the services and being surrounded by a hopeful energy that practically radiated off of all the people that went. In turn, that would help him achieve his goal of a better mindset.

He dressed down this time, leaving the suit at home with a simple button-up and with a pair of dark jeans.

When he arrived, he parked his car, swirling the key chain around his finger while he walked up to the doors and entered. This time his head remained up, although he still kept the habit of veering off to the side to return to a secluded position at the pews.

As Cas was preparing everything, he caught Dean walk in, and he smiled softly, glad that he decided to return. He took a sip of water and placed the water bottle on a hollowed-out spot on the podium, made explicitly for that purpose.

He waited until everyone was settled, noticing the crowd was roughly the same size. He cleared his throat, "Good morning to you all. Thank you for coming to today's service. As always, we will start with our morning song of prayer before we dive into the topic for this Sunday." Cas tapped the remote and played the music as he sang along with the audience to the lyrics on the screen.

Dean wasn't as apprehensive this time around mostly due to it now being an experience that he went through and wasn't entirely unknown for him. He understood what was going to take place soon and what was going to be discussed at least to some degree.

Dean folded his hands in his lap, his lips flashing a brief but warm smile to the sight of Castiel at the front, preparing what he could only assume to be the material he was going to present to the rest of the group. Himself, along with the rest of the members, muttered their hellos and greetings in response to Castiel's before they stood up and began the hymn. He followed to what happened last week, where he murmured, and lip-synced the words to the best of his ability.

As the young priest sang along as always, he moved his eyes, wondering if Dean was singing this time. He was putting a little more effort into it, at least, and not fully lip singing. Once the song ended, everybody sat themselves back down and turned to Castiel.

"As you know, after the first Sunday of every month, I present a topic each remaining Sunday in the hope that you take what you need from it. Today's topic is 'When You Can't Forgive.'" He paused and flipped a page, "In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray. 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.' Or, as one four-year-old boy rephrased it, whom I had the pleasure of meeting here in this church: 'And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets.' And in another teaching, Jesus said, 'Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."

Dean wasn't much of a singer when it came to instances like this, but that didn't mean there weren't things that could've been seen as exceptions. Although he didn't count things like hollering along to the words of one of his tapes in his car' singing.'

He got himself comfortable on the pew, or more of as healthy as he could, considering he was just sitting on wood, to listen properly to what Castiel has to say to the rest of them.

The message he was conveying was one that was simple enough. It was one that he was taught like many others as a small child just in the form of 'treat others how you want to be treated,' with the lack of religious undertones and concepts.

Dean leaned back, stretching his arm across the back of the seat as he listened contently, his mind drifting a tad but primarily focusing on the words being preached.

Every once in a while, as Castiel was preaching the sermon, he would always look around the crowd equally to engage with the audience instead of just staring down at the paper. "Put away from all your bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. So it's clear that we are supposed to forgive. Jesus insisted on it. He also gave us an example of it when he died on the cross, praying, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do.'

Castiel flipped to the concluding notes after he stated the central part.

Dean enjoyed the fact that he didn't appear to be reading from an actual bible. It seemed like he was shortening it down to a more understandable notation from what he was understanding, and that was appreciated. Both in the sense of it helped make things easier and didn't cause long rambles that ended up meaning nothing at the end of the day that also would end up losing his attention. The message being conveyed was also rather simple and easy to follow.. if that was all it took was to do things like treat others the way he'd enjoy to be treated and end up in life along with a few other things and who was he to dismiss it?

His lips mindlessly flicked upward into a smile at the thought, his index fingers brushing across one another to occupy his hands as he listened on just like the other members.

"Are there not times when we say, 'I know I should forgive, but this time I can't? There is a big difference between saying, 'I won't forgive' and saying 'I can't forgive.' To declare, 'I won't forgive' reveals a sin-dominated heart that is closed to the grace of God. That kind of spirit puts a person in great spiritual jeopardy. In conclusion, I ask that all of you try and forgive. Forgive those who have done you wrong and forgive yourself for doing your wrongdoings. Forgiveness is a hard thing to accept, but it is necessary to live life to the fullest."

Castiel finished up the sermon for this morning and stepped off the stage to once again greet anyone who stood in line. The line was not as long as last Sunday, but he still took his time equally with every individual or family member.

The message was once again sweet and straightforward, it not being new material to any of them with the possible exception of children that hadn't learned much stuff on moral aspects of society as well as how to properly socialize with others just yet, at least in a sophisticated manner. Once again, he was left intrigued and satisfied with the sermon, Castiel not failing him on delivering the words with whole heartiness and belief like he had done time prior, which made him more comfortable with the unfamiliar aspects.

He didn't hesitate to pry himself from his pew to join the line, allowing families or couples and other members to step ahead, signaling it with a step back which they would move forward into his previous place. He didn't want to take time just to thank for the sermon, while others could've had more valid reasons to be going to the priest like asking for prayers like he had witnessed last week.

During the traditional greeting after the service, Castiel prayed with a couple of families for the loss of a member of family, addiction by a loved one, and hope for the future. During his time here at church, he had heard a lot of stories, and nothing necessarily made him grimace at this point. If he felt anything, it was that he wanted others suffering to be able to find their type of peace. One small child was familiar with Cas and rushed up to hug his leg affectionately. He didn't mind since the child was small and innocent. He bent down and greeted them properly at eye level. They were the last of the families to leave.

The young priest smiled when he saw Dean, "I see you decided to return for another service. I must be a good speaker then, haha."

Dean knew some of these families more than he needed to merely interact with a priest for the sake of light conversation. In dire circumstances that some of them went through that were beyond their physical control, they did need a prayer and reassurance from a holy man such as a priest. It was a comfort to many, and he understood the appeal, although he couldn't see himself doing such a thing due to his problems being rooted in himself. His actions were in his control, which in turn were his responsibility to handle and couldn't be prayed to lessen or get better.

Dean watched the small child run up to Castiel from behind the family, a little chuckle bubbling from his throat due to the wholesome act.

"Suppose I just felt like I couldn't miss another one of your services... plus it's better than reading a bible for dummies sort of thing." Dean jokes, a sheepish smile forming while his thumbs looped on the edge of his pockets.

Cas smiled brightly at the joke, "I'll have you know I did pick up a copy of that book once. It was when I was starting out my priesthood. I figured since I know nothing about the topic, why not? I suppose my mentors thought I was joking because of their comments, but I was dead serious," he chuckled, remembering the looks on their faces.

The priest looked into Dean's eyes, once again, seeing the pain behind them, "How was this Sunday compared to last? The first Sunday of each month is always a slow start."

Dean cocked a brow to the comment, an expression of slight shock mixed with pure amusement and interest pulling across his face, "Well, hey, you learn in whatever way is gonna help at the end of the day." He commented the expression he previously had faltering a little in response to the eye contact that was made with Castiel, his eyes locking with his for a moment or two before instinctively averting to his forehead. He could hold eye contact typically, but in this scenario, he didn't want to for too long for some reason. "It picked up a little bit and was more interesting than last week. Held my attention better too, which is a pretty good accomplishment considering you had my attention pretty well last week too."

He noticed Dean averted his eyes away when they held eye contact for a little bit. Either above his head or on his forehead. Maybe he should soften his gaze a little as he knew his eyes could be a bit intense at times.

"Good. That makes me happy to hear that. I don't recommend the first Sunday as a very first service, but considering it held your attention well enough, then I can give myself a pat on the back," he proceeded to pat his shoulder twice.

Castiel noticed a candle flame burning too freely behind Dean and immediately went over and snuffed it out so that it would not catch his shirt on fire, "I apologize. I just didn't want that flame to catch on you."

Dean was fond of eye contact in some scenarios, and it often is that he made it get points across or allow for the intensity or bond of a moment to increase. However, in the setting of a church with a priest just made it feel like he was almost being examined or picked apart by his gaze. The mood was lightened, however, by Castiel's comment followed by the self-pat on the shoulder, "Yeah, you did a good job and trust me, it's a feat to hold that for a decent amount of time with this sort of thing." He told him.

He tipped his head to the side, his chin pressing against his shoulder as he gawked behind him to the best of his ability once the other had gone off to set the candle out that was lingering behind him. "Yeah not sure I want the miracle of holy fire bestowed upon me just yet." He said, craning his neck the proper way to turn around to face him once more.

Castiel smirked and looked back up at Dean's eyes once the flame was extinguished, "I won't bestow holy fire upon you or holy water. That's not in my practice," he returned in front of him so he could talk to him more personally, "Dean, do you believe that since we are alone in this church, when we talk after services, that I am possibly giving an evaluation to you? I can assure you that even outside of the church, I am just your everyday man who will not provide a psychological assessment of someone that I care for."

Did he just say that?

Dean gave a small pigeon laugh, his lips staying firmly shut as he did so although they were pulled into an amused smile. "Good. Both of those things will burn, and quite frankly, I don't feel like dealing with that tonight." He teased.

The mood and his expression shifted a little to the change in tone and subject, Dean not being sure how to formulate a proper answer to that was he to lie about the matter and call the accusation ludicrous? Or would that be some form of sin to not only deceive but in a church to an official? God, this was getting all too complex in his head. Plus, there was the matter of how could he gather that information so quickly? It was almost like he was in his head with a few mere words and glances, although it was nearly a little touching given her attached a 'someone that I care for' at the end of his questioning. "I suppose you could say that.. sounds kinda dumb now that you say it out loud though." He murmured, his hand moving to scratch the back of his head absentmindedly while smoothing his fingers down across the hair on the end of it.

The blue-eyed man smiled and let out a soft laugh, "It's not dumb, Dean. It's normal for you to think that considering the atmosphere we are standing in," he looked up at the stained glass window to the side of them, "I am not here to assess you. I may be good at reading people at times, but I never use it against anyone. What I said was true, I do care about you. That may sound strange since we only met this month, but I'm only honest. After services, I don't want you to think of me as a priest. Just think of me as someone you met, taking a walk in the park."

The words, similar to the two sermons he had given so far where he had been in attendance, were reassuring to him. Dean followed the other's eyes, taking a second to register the act before his green ones landed on the large and intricately designed stained window. "I suppose you're right.. well, not suppose, more of know." He said with a raise or his brows as he corrected his thoughts out loud.

The comparative he gave to someone being met in a park was easy enough to relate to even though he didn't go out to do such things that often anymore. He still knew what it was like to just meet someone and interact freely as if the concepts of judgement and worry were almost nonexistent. "It's kinda weird y' know? If I would've met you somewhere not in this sort of setting first, I don't think I would've known you did this sort of thing. Would've made things more comfortable too, but hell, can't win all the battles and guess I'll just gotta ease into it." He said because yes, it was odd to be getting closer in some aspects to someone who was closely affiliated to religion, but at the same time, he knew that wasn't what all Castiel was.

The way Dean worded his feelings made perfect sense to Castiel. If they had met outside of the church, there was no way he could've known that he was a priest. Cas was the type of person who enjoyed life for what it was and did not always connect it to religion. He was a follower and preached to others, but he recognized growth just needed to be lived simply to enjoy it.

"I understand where you're coming from. I am not what you would call a 'run of the mill' priest. You could say I have two sides: one for preaching and the other for personal life. If you can separate those two from my personality, then I do believe we will get along just fine," he looked at his watch and flicked his eyes back up to Dean, "I feel I've kept you too long again, but I do enjoy our chats. I'll let you go and do what you need to do for the rest of the day."

Dean knew that over time he'd settle with the entire religious authority ordeal. Currently, he was just in a stage where everything was a little jumbled with what he couldn't or could say or do, everything being kicked up almost like a dust storm. Now he was just starting to let it ease in that he was human after all and wouldn't reprimand him to any degree for being friendly or possibly saying something that wasn't the most churchy and soon it would settle fully and allow him to be looser with him.

"That should be easy enough after a little time...it helps that you're at least someone approachable." He commented, the tips of his thumbs coming to tap against one another, "Trust me, you haven't kept me for too long, and it isn't hard to stay for a little longer when I'm enjoying myself. I will let the conversation close up, though, given that time is of the essence sort of thing." He remarked. "I'll see you around, Cas." He said to bid a lighthearted farewell, his body turning in a fluid motion to make his exit.

Castiel waved his hand as he saw Dean leaving. He felt they were getting to know each other a little better. He understood how a church setting could be harder to get used to doing that. A thought crossed his mind about meeting up outside of the building, but he decided it would be a bit soon to ask that of Dean. He didn't want Dean to leave, but he also didn't want to keep him here for the rest of the day. Cas wasn't the total best at social cues and could, at times, be awkward, depending on the situation.

Once again, he repeated the process of changing his top half and grabbing his car keys to retrieve some food and drive back to his home to prepare for next Sunday.

Dean felt like he was still managing to hold his own when it came to interacting with him calmly and enjoyably despite the setting, but that's not to say that he wouldn't be more comfortable out of church or at least not right after a sermon ended.

Dean was truthful with what he said when it came to not being bothered by staying with him to talk, actually enjoying the activity quite much. However, he didn't want to overstay his welcome, given that he could be time-consuming and felt like it was a lot to handle, especially after the services.

Dean walked out into the parking lot, pulling his keys out from his back pocket after patting around the for them just to make sure they were there. He took a moment to scan the lot, quirking a brow at the only car left, which he could only assume to be Castiel's. The car was beautiful. It looks older similar to his own, which he appreciated given that he enjoyed vehicles at least to some degree.


	3. Chapter 3

It was Saturday morning, and Cas realized his oil needed to be changed as the light turned on when he was driving. He could've sworn there was a mechanic shop around the area somewhere. He did a quick search on his GPS and found the coordinates. He had never been to this shop before, but he wasn't wary when it came to new things.

Cas pulled up in his dark blue Ford Thunderbird and saw the entrance sign for guests to check-in.

Dean snatched the rag that hung from the edge of the table, which held scattered tools, his hands moving together to rub the grease that stained his fingertips before using the same rag to rub across his temple to his forehead. Earlier in the morning, he had a regular, an older man who enjoyed getting up early, who insisted that he needed his engine to be cleaned as well as other primary care.

At the front of the shop behind the desk stood one of his coworkers, he is one to handle the interactions while he dealt with the actual mechanic work within the garage or just managing the general equipment that was behind the half door that was located near the desk.

The priest entered the little walk-in area and was asked for his name and car model. After signing some paperwork and filling out a form that allowed them to do a full inspection, he sat himself down in one of the chairs provided.

A magazine about antiques caught his eye, and he started flipping through the pages, using his licked thumb to grab the stuck-together pages.

Castiel hoped that all they needed to do was an oil change. He valued his Thunderbird and tried to keep it in top condition since it was an older model. He appreciated the more retro things in life, such as vinyl albums, old cars, and various antique collections.

The worker at the counter primarily stared at an extra pen he had, wiggling it in his fingers as if it was the most entertaining thing in the world. The business was rather slow, but that was given on an early Saturday morning such as this, so the two workers rather bored, although Dean found ways to pass the time better than the other, and it was easier for him considering he operated on the cars.

Once the form has been completed and was given a once over to make sure no blanks or possible extreme errors, the man called out the make and model as well as what it was in for in a rather loud tone.

Dean, of course, is a playful yet also aggravated tone given the hour and distance he was from the other because he was leaning into the opening to the back, called out in response. "Quit your damn hollering and just hand me the stuff like a proper human bein' man." Doing a run by to snatch the clipboard from the other.

As Castiel flipped through his magazine, he was making mental notes of auctions that were listed in the future. He may not have appeared it, but he was a damn good bidder and knew precisely when to go higher or stop bidding altogether. It was how he won his expensive car. After all, she was very hard to haggle, but she was worth it.

His blue eyes flicked up at the man twirling around his pen, looking slightly amused. Cas sympathized with needing to pass the time and doing random activities. He seemed always to be doing that before church since he was there so early.

A voice could be heard that he thought sounded familiar but decided to dismiss it and return to reading more about upcoming auctions he could attend.

Dean flipped through the short pages attached to the clipboard, his fingers playing with the corner of one of the sheets. Once his eyes caught a glance of what type of car it was, he couldn't help but hum in surprise. The kind of car wasn't a common one for sure. It is an older one for sure that was much more preferred than the newer makes and models that he dealt with nowadays.

He pushed the button to open the garage, pulling the keys that had to be given off from under the clip. He instinctively walked to the other side of the car, opening up the door before actually looking up at it. It was familiar, considering the week prior, he had taken a good look at the same car. He simply narrowed his eyes, tentatively setting himself down into the vehicle merely to pull it into the working area so he could inspect and change the oil.

There was music in the waiting area playing softly through the speakers, not too loud to be disruptive. The song switched over, and Castiel recognized it as "Smoke On The Water." He smiled and hummed to the catchy guitar intro before quietly singing the lyrics. About a minute into the song, he noticed the man at the desk was glancing at him. Cas cleared his throat and got up to look for another magazine, and this one was on various kinds of zoo animals.

He always felt he related to some type of bird the best, but could never pinpoint why. Maybe it was because he liked their feathers or how freely they flew everywhere without any limits.

The man at the counter cleared his throat, his fingers clenching around the pen while he eased himself back into the chair that rested behind it, swiveling the desk chair to the computer that resided near to bide his time further.

Dean was cautious while he drove the vehicle as always, easing it up onto the drive-on jacks the garage had which held up the front portion of the car. Once the vehicle had been rolled up and he had slid cinder blocks behind the back tires, he slid under the car to unscrew the oil cap, which would spill the remaining contents into the tin under it.

The cap, once unscrewed, was further examined due to the texture being off. It was flaming in paint, and all around seemed to be in bad condition, not to mention the crack residing in the side of it. It wasn't uncommon for the part to damage quickly, though, so Dean slid from under it with it in his greased hand, ready to simply inform the owner of the simple fix and the slight increase in charge that would go along with it.

"Gonna need a new oil filler cap." He hollered, moments later jabbing his head around the corner of the separating door.

As Castiel was reading a new magazine, he heard the same voice holler back to his buddy behind the desk; probably asking for supplies. Was that Dean's voice? It sure sounded like it, even if it was at a higher tone due to shouting.

Dean looked like someone who would be into working on cars as a mechanic. He had that aesthetic about him, Cas thought. Someone who didn't mind getting his hands or clothes dirty from the grease and oil, someone who enjoyed figuring out problems and tinkering with their hands to repair it. It must be satisfying having a broken car come in and be able to restore it good as new; hearing the engine hum in happiness.

The priest would have to greet him now after the work was done since it was the polite thing to do. He chuckled lightly to himself, seeing as he just happened to pick the mechanic shop Dean worked at to have his car evaluated. The world works in mysterious ways.

The other man behind the counter merely seemed to grumble, turning and taking his pen to scribble down a few words to take notes, before scrawling a number down next to it after a brief look over of a cost spreadsheet that was made up for the convenience of workers as well as customers.

Dean pulled himself back into the garage, emerging himself back into the task at hand once the matter was handled. He returned to the side of the car, slowly sliding the pan from under while held the old oil. Dean slid it off to the side with his boot covered foot, the thick substance sloshing in the tin.

The fix was relatively easy from there, Dean screwing on a new cap that would fit the model and filling the vat with fresh oil.

Dean, despite the simplicity of most tasks, enjoyed the job he had because he wasn't cursed with the need to linger at a desk and fill out paperwork. He could freely use his space, and it was rare that he sat unless he was slid on his back under a car or truck.

Dean pushes the cinder blocks from behind the wheels, easing himself behind the wheels to gingerly pull back off the jacks to return into the parking lot.

Cas looked at the clock and figured the job should be done very soon unless something else popped up in his car. He decided to get up and put the magazine on the rack where it belonged. Sitting back down, he played with his thumbs, twirling them in a circle. He bobbed his head in time with the beat of the music over the speakers. His eyes glanced up at the man behind the desk now and then.

Castiel could never stand behind a desk most of the day; he needed to be doing something productive at least. He was a patient man but enjoyed getting stuff done while working. Everyone had a part to play when it came to business, but he would always be happier interacting with others.

Dean could've had his fair share of enjoyment with not interacting with anyone, but that sounded like something that would grow tiring after an extended period, even if it could work well or possibly make him work better given that no other distractions would be present. He enjoyed being able to work alongside others or more help others, even if it was just in the mere form of helping with car problems.

Dean cut the ignition, the car's engine fading out slowly as he put it in park at the curb. He pulled the keys, stepping out of the vehicle and closing it gently before walking towards the front entrance to walk into the reception and waiting area to return the keys as well as the clipboard, so finally, payments could be made. He tucked the board under his coverall clad arm, using his other hand to open and enter the door.

Of course, he was met with Castiel sitting in the room, waiting silently. "Thought I recognized the car." He claimed with a silent chuckle, walking past to place the board on the counter before turning towards Cas once more.

The priest heard the door opened, and it turns out his hunch was correct; Dean did work here for his job. He smiled and got up, "Funny how I just happened to pick the closest shop, and you happen to work here. It's nice to see you again."

Castiel didn't know how much Dean kept from his co-worker who was standing right there, ready to finish the paperwork. He decided not to mention that it was nice meeting him outside of the church. Some people kept that topic to themselves for various reasons, so he acted like they were old friends instead.

He gave the man his card to finish paying for the service done to his car and signed the bill for it to be recorded.

Dean let his shoulders roll up into a shrug before they fell just as quickly as they had risen. "Guess it was just destiny for you to see me before the start of a new week." He joked. Dean appreciated the way he handled it instead of just blatantly stating that it was nice to see him outside of a sermon or outside of church. It wasn't like he had a problem with people knowing.

Hell, he'd rip someone a new one if they gave him a problem, but he just wasn't fond of the idea of letting his coworker know much about him when he didn't share or talk to him in the first place unless it was work-related.

The other man took the car and scanned it, sliding it back to Castiel once everything had adequately gone through. He took the bill once it was signed, murmuring a soft farewell before returning to his previous act of what mostly was nothing.

"Made sure everythin' was in good condition." He remarked, moving to wipe his hands on the sides of his coveralls right where it covered his ribcage just to free them of any grease that wasn't dried.

Cas took his card and placed it back into his wallet, along with the receipt with the proof it had been worked on. He put the wallet into his jean pocket. He chuckled softly at Dean's joke about destiny, "You look like someone who appreciates older cars now that I think about it. I won mine in an auction two years ago. I brought it here because it said I needed to get the oil checked. With your expertise in mind, I'm sure my car was in otherwise good condition? I try to keep it running as smooth as possible. If you have any tips for older cars, I'd be delighted to hear them."

Even though he had a knack for antiques, this was his first older car has ever owned. Of course, when he was a teenager learning how to drive, he had an old model, but his Thunderbird had more value than that car did. He wanted to keep it as long as possible.

Dean listened intently, smiling slightly to the comment of him looking like a person who appreciated older models of cars, which of course, was the case given the fact that he owned an older car himself, which he treasured with all of his being. He had primarily grown up with the Impala, so he knew enough about the older types to give some form of advice, "There's a bunch of little things to do that'll work in keeping it in good shape and preventing breakage and all of that."

He began to explain, crossing his arms across his chest while glancing out the windows of the room to look at the parked car. "Keeping the tires rotated and checking the air pressure every few thousand miles give or take will prevent a blowout while driving, which will damage the car if it happens, and there's a good chance of an accident happening from that."

He tapped just fingers against his forearm as he thought briefly. "Beyond changing and maintaining parts, which I can go into, but I won't steal your time away from you like that. Keeping your driving habits in check, you know, like driving over speed bumps slow and not putting the pedal to the floor every chance you get, is an easy one to do to keep it running well for longer."

As Cas was listening to Dean's every single word of advice, he found himself making quick mental notes. He did know his stuff, and he was happy that Dean owned a classic car as well. Some of the knowledge was common sense, such as the speed bumps and putting the pedal to the metal. Cas always tried to respect the speed limits on the road. He made sure that he would check his air pressure more frequently than he did.

The priest nodded and smiled, "Thank you, Dean. I'll make sure to do all of what you suggested to keep my car as good as new. I'll leave you as well for right now. I wouldn't want to keep you from your job and customers, but I'll see you tomorrow, of course."

He waved and headed towards the exit door to get back in his precious Thunderbird. He also noticed the engine sounded smoother when he started the ignition.

Dean could go on and on about specific parts to check and the consequences of leaving them to go unchecked, but he wasn't about to give a lecture on old cars on a Saturday morning to Castiel, even if he did ask for the advice in the first place.

Dean chuckled half-heartedly to his comment about not wanting to keep him from his job and customers. "Trust me, it's much better to talk about older models than working on the same few new models that keep coming through the door, plus there isn't going to be much happening on a Saturday morning like this." He assured.

"If you find anything not sounding right or think something's wrong don't hesitate to stop by. I'd quite enjoy taking a gander under the hood at some point again." He remarked as he was leaving, giving a brief wave to him to mimic the action.

The rest of the Saturday for Castiel was nothing special. He had gone to the grocery store as he was low on food. He always made sure to pick up some fresh burger patties, though he didn't think he was an expert on the grill. He enjoyed experimenting with different ingredients.

Once he was back home, he went over his papers for tomorrow's services and noted that he would be on duty for the confessional box in the morning before the sermon was to start. He reflected on how he heard just about everything in the box from various people, but it was to be kept confidential as the folks were just getting stuff off their chests.

Dean had gone home after a few more cars that had come in for simple repairs or to buy materials for do it yourself jobs. Having spent the rest of his day mowing his lawn along with other small yard work and then taking the time to set out some clothing for tomorrow morning to ensure that he wouldn't run late. Given the fact that Dean wanted to be on time in general and that this Sunday would be holding early confessionals, not to mention the fact that Dean genuinely was happy to get himself ready for the morning as he was starting to enjoy attending and interacting with Castiel. It was a little odd to Dean because he already felt like he wouldn't know what to say, but he'd try it for his sake.

After having enjoyed a few old horror movies and a bowl of cereal as his meal due to him not being the cooking type most of the time, plus he just enjoyed cereal, he headed in for the night.


	4. Chapter 4

The blue-eyed priest was in the church quite early in the morning; about an hour before the sermon started. It was his time this Sunday morning to operate the confessional booth. The booth was offered publicly to people who needed to release their sins off their chest. The more religious folk did it more often than not, but others did it when emotions and thoughts were weighing heavily on their minds. It was Castiel's job to sit in the booth and wait for anyone who wanted to pop in and just talk. He heard just about everything you could think of and always offered a prayer afterward to give the confessor positive affirmation and give hope to repent for their sins.

The booth was not very comfortable to be sitting in for an hour, but this was his job and had to do it.

Dean, given his non-religious background, wasn't the most familiar with how a confessional service ran and what is provided in the sense of holiness. Still, after a quick discussion with his younger brother over the phone, he decided that it was in his best benefit to attending. He understood that it was mostly like a religious therapy session just in a cramped box with some random priest behind a screen who'd free you of it all once it was said.

The concept seemed easy enough. The only hard part is that Dean would need to be up earlier than usual and given the terms he was on with sins or all-around acts that weren't precisely sins, just more of horrible in moral code, he thought he'd be a fool not to at least go to only one.

So with that in mind, he did head down to the church early to attend along with other attendees.

There were a handful of followers this morning for confessions. All Castiel had to do was listen to each of them. Some were more tragic than others as they quietly begged for forgiveness for their actions. Tears were at times shed from the person on the other side of the screen, but it was all part of the process to let go of the burden they placed upon themselves. He was not there to judge, only to support.

Castiel offered a small prayer after each confession and reassured them that they would be forgiven for their actions.

Some might ask if a person confessed to murder or heinous crime, would he report it to authorities? Priests were not allowed to do so. In the eyes of the law, their word is not valid as evidence. The priests were viewed as people that criminals could confess to and hopefully be responsible for turning themselves in.

Dean had heard mixed judgments on the activity of confessional. Some people would be nervous or weary on the subject, while others proclaimed it as a sort of relief that they could necessarily spill their guts and woes. They didn't need to worry about things like legal issues, gossip, or judgments from friends or family if they were to tell it to them instead, and at the end of the day, he'd need to try it first before he was to make his own choices on it.

Once he had arrived from the short drive and had entered the church, he was already immersed in a small conversation with an older woman who was there for the same reasoning and how she enjoyed taking part in it.

During the confession he was doing now, Castiel could tell this older gentleman was very troubled with what he just said. There were tears, and his voice was a bit shaky. He stayed silent, letting the elder sob his feelings out as it only healing him.

During his journey to the priesthood, Cas learned that crying didn't make you weak. He used to avoid shedding tears because of that mindset. A wise mentor told him that sorrow is a sign of inner strength and that the person has been strong for too long. He only understood what his mentor meant when he discovered it for himself later down the road.

Once the gentleman was done crying, Castiel thanked him and prayed with him before he popped out of the booth to return to his wife.

Dean had a love-hate relationship when it came to emotions, and by that, he mostly meant that he loved to hate them. It was something that he could never find the proper way to address both in timing and in a manner of how to do it. Emotions just never seemed to click with him at least with sharing, but that was more of his fault for lack of communication as well as a thick-skulled stubbornness that plagued him.

Dean fumbled with his hands, his weight shifting from his toes, then to his heels, then to the sides of his feet and then repeating the process out of repetitive boredom.

The woman he had been previously talking to rather too enthusiastically, especially for the early hour, bumped him on the back to go towards the booth. He gave a small chuckle like scoff after having widened his eyes, taking a few steps forward to approach the small space.

He already didn't enjoy the environment as he began to step inside, carefully shutting the door behind him and sitting down.

First, he took a moment to take in the space simply, the sudden silence making things feel more severe, but that was a given.

The priest sat there, waiting quietly and heard the door to the booth open. The whole box was quiet as the person inside was getting acquainted with the feeling of being in a somewhat cramped space.

Given their actions, this person was a first-timer to confess. Not every member of the church enjoyed the confessional booth, but he was wondering who it was as he ran a list of faces and voices through his mind. Castiel waited patiently until the person on the other side was ready for what they had to say. At times, they needed to gather their thoughts and think of the right words to say. Even if they rambled, he would still listen.

Dean wasn't fond of small, uncomfortable spaces, such as this. Sure, he could make the occasional exception if he were in a cramped room, but he had the luxury of sitting in a beautiful chair. The thought process and limitations of it were weird, but it made sense in his head.

Beyond the matter of him feeling like he was wedged in a holy closet, he wasn't sure where to begin.. he had racked up a considerable about of sins or wrongdoings in his mind, so it was a scramble to try to pull something that could fluidly lead into the others.

"Suppose it's time for me to confess for the big guy upstairs." He said to begin, as always so far, trying to find a little pinch of humor in the situation. "I enjoy alcohol a little too much and a little too frequently.. been trying to slow myself down, and occasionally it works, but I catch myself going back to it more than I'd like." He admitted, his hands clasping together. He felt like starting with that would be a good segway into other things he's done or just feels like he should confess possibly for his benefit.

Once the person on the other side got comfortable enough in the booth, a quiet sigh was heard, and then Dean's voice. Dean had come to the confessional booth this morning. In all honesty, Castiel never thought he would listen to his voice. He felt that the box might be too personal for Dean, but here he was.

He had confessed that he relished in the consumption of alcohol more than he should; that was common. An effort was being made to slow down the toxic behavior, which was a good start, but it would more time on his part if he was going to be completely sober.

Alcoholism was a tougher one to get control of since its legalized, and you can buy liquor just about anywhere these days.

Dean never would've expected himself to be in the situation either, but then again, he saw it as a better option than having a face to face conversation with someone he knew.

Revealing these sorts of things with a promise of confidentiality, a curtain, and a stranger was something that would guarantee that it wouldn't be leaked out. No one important to him would know of it, not to mention that it mostly cleared his slate from sin from what he understood.

He hasn't considered himself an alcoholic, but he was pushing the limit of what even he didn't think one.

Dean clicked his tongue, keeping his lips shut as he did so while he leaned his body forward to bend his elbows against his knees. "I guess I also have some commitment problems, least when it comes to people.. don't know if that's a sin or not but oh well... which I guess that sorta thing ties into premarital sex." He explained, trying to pick his brain for proper terms, feeling obligated to avoid obscene phrases or slurs of any sort in this setting. "Which I guess ties into other things on top of that. Man, it's kinda more complicated and extensive than I thought." He began to explain.

Even though Dean is having a lot of thoughts pop into his mind all at once, along with emotions, Cas thought that he was very attuned to himself. Typically when people go to a confession booth, their thoughts are more scrambled, and they just blurt whatever comes out, which was excellent. However, it was always a positive of a person's self-awareness and how their future would appear to be. Dean knew his actions and took responsibility for them; he wasn't in denial. That was the first step to make your life feel more fulfilling.

Castiel didn't think Dean would be the type of person to devote himself to a deity and repent for his sins or wrong moral code. He felt Dean was more of the person who would find his way to make a big difference in his life. The priest thought that coming here to church for the sermons could offer some perspective and help with his mindset, making it more happy with himself and being able to move forward.

Dean knew his problems, hell they had loomed over his shoulder for what felt like years at this point in his life. He knew how he acted and behaved, even if Dean would deny such knowledge in an everyday conversation or accusation of his actions. The thoughts where he'd similarly deny things unless he genuinely did dig himself into a pit where lies would only dig him further down. "Don't even get me started on sexuality crap.." he murmured, his voice filling the small cupboard like space with a tone that was injected with spite and disinterest.

It wasn't like he had an awful relationship with that part of himself; Dean merely just wished he could settle on how he felt on the matter. He felt like his emotions were jumping from one to the next, it leaning him in turn about of confusion every single time it happened, and it didn't help that he had the mindset where he believed that he should've had this figured out set in stone years ago. "I'm not gonna go on a tangent. I just wanted to spill the basics and broad idea of things for the big fella upstairs, I guess." He snorted, finding himself amusing. Or it more of being finding humor despite the circumstances plus his comment is one he never expected to hear out of his mouth, him willingly saying something to try to make himself at ease with some form of higher power.

Cas figured Dean was done with his first confession given as he was trying to amuse himself with his comments. He acted like even though he was self-aware, he still had questions about who he indeed was deep down. Those answers would come in time if he allowed himself to become vulnerable to explore these thoughts and feelings. It would be hard, but he would be a stronger and happier person from his growth.

He figured it would be best to say an ending prayer, but at the same time, Cas didn't know how Dean would react because he had no idea the priest was behind the screen. He had hoped Dean would not feel different such as awkward or possibly angry. He used the same prayer that was standard for the end of the session.

"Let us say a closing prayer together. Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you. Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained."

Dean knew he still had some confusion on what he was and, more importantly, who he was. One moment he would be stuck thinking he was one thing, and then the next, he'd think the opposite, although, for the most part, the core complaints and negative things about him remained the same or circled those concepts.

Dean did feel a little bit of relief spilling his guts and emotions onto an unknown entity, but at the same time he did experience guilt for not being able to say it to someone face to face and handle it without a mask, or in this case a screen.

Dean had begun to ease his weight into his feet, hovering over the seat briefly once he had started the prayer. Both pausing in a moment of surprise and shock and out of being instinctively respectful to the service not being done entirely and halting his disruptive action out of pure habit.

He could feel his stomach and chest twisting uncomfortably, feeling ignorant for believing that there was no chance that the other could've been Cas just because he gave the sermons plus he felt unjustifiably betrayed in the situation. It wasn't Castiel's fault, of course, and on the rational end of things, he understood that, but now it just felt like an instance where someone he was getting to know was possibly using this to get information on him that he didn't wish to share yet.

The mental accusations were a stretch, but he couldn't help himself.. rationality didn't triumph over blind emotion.

When Castiel finished the prayer just as he does with every confessional service, he felt extreme tension on the other side of the booth from Dean. He suspected that would happen given the matters Dean addressed, but it was also unfair to him because Dean had no way of knowing it was Cas listening to everything. They were just getting to know each other after the sermons, after all.

He felt Dean's emotions leaking off of him like a gas cloud; they were active. Most likely feelings of betrayal and uncertainty if he was going to bring this up in their future conversations. But Cas wouldn't do that to anyone, especially him. He would only talk about it if Dean brought it up, but he wasn't going to ignore it if he was angry about the situation.

Cas opened up the door on his side as Dean was the last confession for the morning. His door led to a room that was not visible to the other people. Now, their eyes would only meet again during, and possibly after the sermon, he had prepared.

Dean, with the little but directly obtained information he had on Castiel, believed that he wouldn't bring up the matters to him, but at the same time, Dean could never be confident with that type of situation. Plus, he didn't doubt issues involving judgment. Even if it was stated that decisions couldn't be made, there was never a time where a human being didn't make a judgment or at least a negative assessment on another based on things they've told them.

Dean did feel some sort of betrayal even if he shouldn't have. It couldn't shake that feeling even if he knew Castiel didn't know he was going to attend, and his actions most likely weren't meant to be malice in nature.

He was regretful about choosing to attend the confessional, now having spilled half of his brain, which was the half he didn't want to drop out to the only individual he knew in the church and so far enjoyed talking with.

Although he didn't have much of a comparison considering he was the only one.

He pushed himself off the seat entirely, pushing open the confessional door to leave the cramped space. He rolled his shoulders out, clearing his throat before strolling to a pew.

Castiel gathered up his papers for the sermon he was going to present to everyone and stacked them neatly together. He walked out the door and into the main room as he saw people shuffling in. Once he got up to the podium, he took a swift glance and saw Dean was in his usual spot. He was happy that he stayed considering how he might feel after the confession.

As everyone was seated, he turned on the projector as he did every morning, "May we all rise for the morning prayer song this Sunday," he said as he started the music with the lyrics on screen.

Dean knew that it would be childish even for him to leave before the sermon just because he didn't like the way his confessional went. Plus, a small part of him was telling him to stay just because he had the chance to, and he wasn't going to deny himself of that even if it was unknown to him as to why he wanted to stay so badly. He assessed it as a possible fear of missing out.

He wasn't too sure about staying after as he had done for the past two Sundays. What was he to say to him if he were to do that? He felt like it would only bring tension and more awkwardness between the two of them, and that's the last thing he wanted.

Dean had his arms loosely crossed against his chest as he sat, his head lulled to the side as he stared off at the wall before the announcement was given for the morning prayer and hymn.

He, despite bodily and mental protests, pulled himself to his feet with his arms dropping slowly to his sides. However, despite the effort he put into standing and such, he wouldn't put much into singing, or more of lip-syncing, the lyrics.

As the music was playing and the priest was singing along with most of the crowd, his blue eyes always seem to take a glance at Dean. Given that he always lip sang, there was less effort put into it than last time. Cas could tell by his demeanor, but it was understandable. Once the song ended and everyone seated, he sipped some water before beginning the sermon.

"Today, I will be touching on the subject of Encouragement and Discouragement. Discouragement is a thief. It steals your vitality, your zeal, your joy, your peace, and your contentment. If discouragement dwells long with you, its friends will soon join. Their names are fatigue, hopelessness, despair, self-pity, depression, doubt, and bitterness. Sometimes, discouragement can be so strong that you don't even want to go on living. Discouragement is dissatisfaction with the past, distaste for the present, and distrust of the future. It is unawareness of the presence of God, unconcern for the needs of our fellow man, and unbelief in the promises of His Word."

Dean did watch the words on the screen absentmindedly. His eyes almost glossed over as his vision went out of focus from the stare. He was merely thinking, which took his attention away from the sermon. Dean was bitter about the way the confessional service went, but leaving immediately after instead of following his typical pattern would show some form of disinterest or mental torment. While developing his routine would make things seem more at ease, which despite it being not faithful, would be a lot better than him having Castiel know how he was conflicted and all around felt on it.

Dean had uncrossed his arms from his chest once he was seated, placing his hands on his thighs, his eyes dropping to them for a moment to watch his fingers slightly curl against the surface before settling. He peered up once again, the information Castiel was preaching blending with his thought to where he slowly began to listen again, the information managing to pique his interest.

The blue-eyed priest flipped through a couple of pages before continuing to have regular eye contact with the crowd while preaching, "If we have nothing to rely on, or we forget our blessings and look to our circumstances, then that is when discouragement begins to take hold. Instead, what we need is encouragement. We need hope and peace, and the knowledge that the Lord knows our troubles; has great concern and compassion for us and is not leaving us unloved or uncared. Even if the Lord is not with you every day, just know that you can find encouragement if one is willing to offer it to you: a friend, family member, acquaintance, co-worker, or even a boss."

Dean understood the concept being preached, it clicking merely as a mindset ordeal instead of anything relating to holiness. Of course, given that they were in a church, everything would tie back to god, heaven, angels, or whatever was holy, but it just made more sense to Dean to exclude that portion when learning and then to slowly let it sink into what he knew.

Encouragement was scarce nowadays. It seemed to Dean, or at least in his little bubble that he called his life. His work setting wasn't the most uplifting person wise despite how much he loved it. He received complaints, critiques that weren't needed and all-around back-handed comments from either co-workers or customers. He didn't have much family left, and the ones he did have he felt like was better than him in almost every regard, which didn't help his mentality.

"To conclude the topic of encouragement and discouragement, I will read a few shorten verses to all of you. Be encouraged because God is a God of mercy and comfort. Take encouragement because God is there in your afflictions. Be encouraged because you can be instruments of comfort to others when the time is called. You do not have to live in a world of hurt and doubt. You don't have to live alone. You don't have to weep in solitude. You have the body of Christ to lift you. You have the Word of God to teach you. You have the Holy Spirit indwelling in you who warms your soul. As the conclusion of today's sermon, feel free to stay after and greet me as we always do for each other." Castiel stepped off the podium and stood in front of the stage as he always did after every sermon. He wasn't going to draw attention to Dean by glancing at him once more.

Dean understood everything being preached. Still, it was another circumstance when it came to allowing himself to fully sink into his brain and body, to the point where he would utilize it for his desires and his mentality.

It wasn't that he didn't think the words given were useful. More of that, he believed that he couldn't do that for some reason that was unknown to him.

Dean's eyes had fallen to his lap, his chin staying up and positioned, so his face was looking forward. He watched his still hands, which had slowly sunk into his pants pockets. The action is one to pass the time before he shot his eyes back up to Castiel's ending words, his gaze lingering across his face for a moment longer than needed before standing. The comment almost felt directed to him. Given, he could be focused on the situation too in-depth, but at the same time, he felt like Castiel had no reason to be saying 'as we always do for each other.' Nonetheless, he hauled himself to the small forming line in front of the stage.

Castiel once again did his weekly greeting to all of the people who wished to shake his hand and thank him or ask for prayer for what they were going through at the time. He found some people just liked to give a small prayer with him because they thought it was more effective in praying with a priest.

He tried to focus on the people in front of him rather than having his eyes wander to see if Dean had left or not. If he were standing in line, Castiel would act natural towards him and try to let him indirectly know he wasn't judging or felt different about him in any way, shape, or form.

He focused his attention back onto a couple who had recently lost their close family friend in a tragic car wreck. He prayed with them for her to be at peace and gave them a very small, but genuine hug as he wished them upon their way. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dean's green eyes.

Dean wasn't going to be one who went up to pray with Castiel on a matter he was struggling with. It wasn't in his nature to do something like that. He would thank him for the duty he was doing of preaching for the others in attendance, which included himself. As well as make a few comments on the service, which generally consisted of jokes or other little things that morphed to form some sort of genuine, or at least authentic in his mind, conversation.

Dean listened to the soft murmurs around him of the others in line, preparing themselves for their prayers or voicing their sympathies and thanks towards the young priest. Even if he wasn't all too devout himself, he did almost envy the devotion these people could have.

They always seemed hopeful, even to the point where God always seemed to have an answer. It also seemed too optimistic in away.

Dean did catch small bits of Cas' voice as he gave the individual prayers or advice; his eyes occasionally snapping up to look in the direction. On one of those scenarios, he did notice the other blue eyes looking at what looked like his general direction.

Unlike one of the previous instances where he glanced away, he kept the stare, his face resting solemnly as he did so.

Once Cas was done praying, he walked up to Dean as he was staring calmly at him, "Good morning Dean, did you enjoy the sermon?"

Castiel kept his hands at his sides, having a relaxed posture. He smiled in a friendly way, trying to keep it light mannered. If Dean wanted to speak about the confession, that was his choice. As a priest, he was not allowed to bring up any confidential conversations. He swore an oath once he entered the priesthood.

Dean was a little off-put by the sudden approach once he had finished the prayer he was giving, although he should've expected it given the fact that he mostly made eye contact with him. "Yeah, yeah, it was good. The complete discouragement and encouragement thing was good." He noted on top of his claim of enjoying the sermon. He let his hands slide into his pockets, his thumb, however hooking on the outside portion of it.

He didn't want to dive into his feelings or anything, hell that was the last thing he wanted, but he felt like putting the matter on the head at least to some degree. "Didn't know you uh, did the confessional thing. Thought you would've been a strictly sermon sorta fella. You do exorcists too?" He joked, keeping his face mostly blank except for a brief smile that perked on his lips, which caused a little scrunch of his nose to show a light heartiness before it fell.

The young priest let out a small chuckle at Dean's comment, "Well, I've never been called for an exorcism, but I think it would look on my resume, don't you? While I do enjoy giving the sermons, I also do the confessional booth once in a while. During the journey of the priesthood, you have to experience a little bit of each service that's provided. Two other priests do work here, but they don't do any services in the mornings. Only the afternoons and evenings are when you'll see them," he explained.

He felt better than Dean was trying to crack a joke, even though his smirk wasn't as strong as it had been. There was a small amount of tension in the air, but it wasn't hostile more so awkwardness. Castiel didn't take any offense to Dean's difference in demeanor towards him.

Dean enjoyed the lighthearted joke, sarcastic remark, or reference when it came to dense situations with emotion. He would exclude such things if he happened to be in the wrong mood, or it was an extremely dire situation that didn't deserve that sort of treatment, but beyond that, he would throw a few out there to hide things residing in himself or make things more at ease.

The left corner of Dean's lip twitched upward once Castiel replied to his remark, finding slight humor in the come back from the priest. "It would look great on a resume. Might get you thrown into a ward though if you flaunted it to future companies."

Dean, despite his constant aggression and assertion in situations, was moving towards the path of avoidant and awkward in this scenario. He didn't have the logical reasoning to snap at Castiel for something he didn't do on purpose, and Dean just felt like he couldn't do that to Castiel with the status they had, and he didn't want to put any future interactions in risk.

"Yeah, I would've thought there were different priests who handled different things y' know? But that's coming from someone who knows nothing about church."

Castiel scratched the back of his neck to get rid of an itch, "Well, that's what most people would think, so your thought process is normal. In my priesthood, I was trained in the seven sacraments: baptism, confirmation, confession, holy communion, marriage, holy orders, and anointing of the sick. Honestly, I'm afraid of doing a baptism. I don't want to drop the child into the water accidentally. I was taught how to, but have never actually performed it yet. I've only married one couple before, but that was a requirement."

The young priest watched Dean's emotions in his face and body language. He sensed that he was trying his hardest not to walk out the door due to feeling distant, trying to be friendly to him like he's always had been since they first met earlier in the month. He appreciated it but didn't want him to feel as if he was trapped here.

Dean listened, his thumbs brushing across the pocket of his pants in small circles absentmindedly. "I don't think you'd drop the baby. They squirm a little bit, but if you just hold them under the arms, they should stay still, and you'll get a good grip on them. Think about it like holding a football that just has limbs." He suggested in all seriousness. The comment could've been seen as funny, it was rather amusing to him too, but at the same time, he thought it was pretty reasonable and factual advice to give.

He had only handled small children such as that a few times in his lifetime, more times having encountered children that had more awareness, but either way, he surprisingly enjoyed them. They were easy to occupy and to play with and didn't give too much trouble for Dean.

If Dean truly felt threatened or that angry over the entire ordeal, he would've left before the sermon had even begun. He was just seeing this as being a person that took the high road, which was somehow more difficult than expected but more manageable than expected at the same time.

"Anyways, I won't steal up too much of your time. Good job again." He said, his gaze dropping to his hand, which he pulled from his pocket and reached to him to gesture for a handshake, it almost feeling and looking like it was a situation where a parent was forcing formal interaction with a small kid.

Castiel tilted his head when Dean gave him advice about how to properly hold an infant during a baptism ceremony. He knew he was serious. He was trying to picture it. As if to get a better picture in his mind, he positioned his arms and hands as Dean told him and nodded his head in approval. He felt like that method could work very well if he was given the opportunity.

He shook his hand with a firm but careful grip, "You are never stealing my time Dean. I usually get done everything I need to before the sermons begin. I'll see you soon though, I always enjoy your company," he smiled to him before heading off in the direction of the back room where personal items were stored for the staff.

Of course, there were many ways to hold a baby, but for the sake of something like baptism, the method he described seemed the most natural and most favorable for efficiency. Dean couldn't help himself but let out a brief chuckle, his lips staying almost shut as he did so, which resulted it in being more like a humored huff of air instead.

Dean gripped just hand in return once Castiel had taken up the handshake, mimicking the grip to ensure that it was firm but not too aggressive.

The positivity that came from Castiel, especially regarding how he seemed to enjoy Dean's presence and his discussions with him, was uplifting in a way, finding the words to be somewhat genuine, which helped his previous agitated and betrayed state of mind. "Yeah, alright. See you soon, Cas." He murmured, turning with slightly hunched shoulders to make his exit of the church.


	5. Chapter 5

p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"It was Castiel's turn to lock up the church for the evening. He looked at the clock noting it was about eight at night. The priest went into the back room and changed out of his priest's outfit into more comfortable clothes. He always relished the feeling of getting out of his uniform as it could get uncomfortable after a long day. Grabbing his car keys, wallet, and the building master key, he started towards the doors before looking back at the stained glass window. His eyes always gazed upon the intricate design before shutting the church closed. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Castiel stepped outside the church and put the key into the lock, twisting the key to the right as it made an audible clicking sound. Putting the key back into his pocket, he started walking towards his Thunderbird to drive home./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean luckily didn't need to work later hours, having the luxury of having most of later hours off, which left him to do as he pleased after he attended earlier scheduled hours. At that point in the night, he had eaten his last meal, showered, and handled previous minute daily activities before settling to do things like watch movies until he would fall asleep for the night./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"However, multiple people didn't have such luxuries both in hours and commodities like Dean. Currently, as he was nestled upon his couch without a care in the world, a man was circling the church he attended, wriggling the back doorknob for it to be open to no avail. /span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The man was homeless, needing to find what he could for expenses. A church, despite it being morally wrong, was a place that was full of goods in the form of decoration items of high value or other things like stored sermon collections. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"He began circling once he had found that the door was of no use to him, lurking around the side to emerge at the front. He doubted the doors would be open for obvious reasoning, and he didn't want to create more of a scene by breaking windows or other entries. Just when he felt like it was a lost cause, he caught a glimpse of a dark-haired man, who he assumed to have been inside the church earlier, walking towards the only car left in the parking lot./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"He concluded that if he weren't able to get inside, then the man would just need to adapt to what he could find, which led him to find himself following the unknown man towards the car./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The priest silently bobbed his head to a tune inside his head as he made his way towards his car. He would enjoy going home, relaxing on the couch before bed, and maybe fixing himself a nice meal. He had wanted to set a new recipe he found for chicken stir fry. It was quick and still had enough ingredients to be simple enough to be flavorful for a late dinner./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"He was a few steps away from his car as he took his car keys out of his back pocket to get ready to unlock it. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. He stopped his pace and carefully looked behind his shoulder./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The man didn't think that this would be too hard, although the choice was rash and quickly made, no planning or preparing ahead of time that could've possibly saved him if things were to go wrong./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"He was a tad disheveled looking, his clothing being layered to protect him from the elements which mostly consisted of jackets or pullovers that were unzipped on his torso. His hair remained short despite his circumstances, his chin and jaw covered in coarse thickening hair./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"His pace steadily increased as the other started to get closer to his car, his worry growing over the possibility that he could escape his sight, and he would be left with nothing. With the increased speed, his feet shuffled rather noisily across the asphalt pavement, but either way, it didn't matter as he watched the man turn his head to glance behind him./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"In a fit of panic and adrenaline due to the risk of him losing his target, he practically lunged forward, although it seemed more like an organized stumble to latch his fingers onto the back of the other's shirt to pull him back./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Castiel felt fingers grasp the back of his collar, and he felt adrenaline shoot into his veins. He turned his eyes without moving his head and could make out it was a male. He was most likely homeless, considering the way he was dressed. Was this man going to try and steal his money and credit card in his wallet? Was he just out for some blood? He didn't smell any liquor in the air, so if the man is under the influence of anything, it wouldn't be noticeable by smell to him. His brain was going into fight, flight or freeze mode. This second, as he felt the man's fingers grab his collar, his body was in freeze mode./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"His brain said fight, but Cas' morals noted that he couldn't hit a man unless he were to hit first so it would be out of self-defense./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"He was rather pleased with the reaction he received from his dark-haired victim. It is almost relieving in a way that he froze up instead of attempting to dash away or whip around and fight him. He had no doubts that he'd still go after him if the priest ran or that if he fought back. But this just made his life much more comfortable, especially considering he didn't have a weapon on his person./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"He let out an aggravated snort, loosening his hold on the fabric of his shirt only to shove him forward by the upper portion of his head back, his palm pressing against his spine. "Keep your back to me, get on your knees, and empty your pockets." He simply said, his tone gravely as he stared at the back of the stranger's head, his gaze staring daggers into his scalp as he gave the orders./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"This man's eyes were staring into Castiel's souls. He meant serious business. He was ordered to get on his knees and empty his pockets. The homeless man wanted to rob him for money. He would assume it was only for food, or it could be for drug paraphernalia. The priest pursed his lips seeing there was no way out of this situation but to defend himself. A part of him would regret this, but he needed to since he felt his life was in danger./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Castiel obeyed the orders and slowly lowered himself down to his knees. He took a mental breath and said a silent prayer to whoever may be watching. He quickly turned around and managed to sweep the offender's leg out from underneath him, just enough to catch him off balance./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The man didn't have intentions that were directly based off of aggression, anger, and all-around emotions that would entail him going out of his way just to cause bodily harm to a stranger. However, that didn't mean that he wouldn't go through the task of injuring another to get what he wanted. He saw it as his survival, considering his financial and shelter situation, and one guy could take a beating for him to live another day./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"A small grin began to form on his lips once he began to comply with the demand he gave, his body lurching forward to look over him as he stepped closer as to not lose his advantage over him by distancing himself too far from him which could leave him a chance to escape or fight back./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The action ended up being his downfall, though, as it put him in range for the attack the dark-haired man had given. He let out an involuntary gasp, his hands coming out to catch himself on the pavement before his head made contact first, his body already scrambling and rolling so he could grab his arm and drag him down with him./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Castiel never intended to hurt the man outright. He planned to throw him off guard and hop into his car and speed off. Then he would notify the police station of the whole incident. This man had his reasons for his actions, but it was inexcusable to be putting someone else at risk. The reasoning would, unfortunately, not work with someone in his position./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The priest saw the man grabbed his arm as he fell backward from the leg sweep. It was a smart move on his part. He ended up failing to catch himself as it all happened so quickly. His face and hands hit the asphalt a bit. Thankfully he didn't feel the blood from his fall. He looked at the man as he was carefully getting up, hoping to scare him off with his blue-eyed stare./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The man would've loved to say that he didn't have bad intentions, but with his circumstances, he couldn't feel great deals of remorse or empathy towards these individuals, or else every single time this was to happen, he'd back out due to feeling poorly about it. He luckily caught himself before damage would occur to his head or face, but it was still a close call, and the impact wasn't enjoyable on his arms. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"He gave an irritated huff, his shoulders hunching as he mostly scrambled to his knees to push himself up to his feet. He didn't hesitate to let his eyes lock with his, his lips pursing as he surged forward to hastily reach outward to grab the collar of the dark-haired male's shirt. "It's never fun when they fight back. Why couldn't you just be easy for me?" He questioned, shoving his arm forward and letting go of the collar simultaneously to push him back./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The priest turned his head away a little once the man grabbed his shirt collar. He was bracing himself for a punch to the face. The man decided to shove him backward instead, having him stagger back to catch his footing. He looked in his eyes, putting his hands at his sides, "Look. I don't want to be easy when I don't know if you will stab me in the back. I'd rather try and protect myself than submit to someone."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Castiel was trying to believe the words he was saying and hoped it did not show in his body language. He wasn't a violent person. He tried to keep eye contact with the man, but Cas could tell the man was growing impatient with his resistance. The man's eyes were bubbling with anger at this point./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The man was reluctant to go after the facial and head area due to the smaller space to hit and considering this one wasn't going down without a struggle a missed strike could mean harm being caused to himself. That of course he didn't want to do for the most part he was sticking with body shots where it would be easier to hit./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The man narrowed his eyes at him, shuffling his feet closer. He let out a chuff, his brows quickly raising and dropping as a signal of irritation. "Alright, that's fine. Just makes it harder for you." He sneered, jerking his body forward, and hurling an arm forward with his fingers firmly closed into a fist. The strike was aimed towards the front portion of his collar bone. It is diagonal to the front of his throat./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Castiel didn't have enough time to react as the man got closer and threw a solid punch to his collarbone. He hissed and stumbled from the force the man actually had. There was no cracking sound thankfully, but his breath hitched a bit from it being sore to breath. If anything, it was going to leave a hefty bruise and be sore for at least a few days. His mind was running at full speed due to the adrenaline and the pain from the punch. He couldn't rationalize to decide to fight back or simply run and get inside his car./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;""Please..." he coughed, "You don't have to do this."/span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The man merely scoffed at the reaction, it seems a little dramatic in his opinion, but then again, he wasn't the one being punched in a spot that could've been considered sensitive./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;""I don't understand really. You look like a smart fella, so I would've thought you would've just handed over a wallet or something by now like I god damn asked." He barked, his aggression and aggravation growing higher and higher with the uncooperative actions the other was giving. At this point, he planned on making his anger known, it not being all for the money at this point as he had been ticked off. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"He repeated the action, landing another blow lower this time near the bottom of his chest./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Cas' blue eyes watched as the man struck him once more. His breathing stopped for a few seconds as he bent over, trying to catch his breath. The wind was knocked out of him. That was a new experience. He shook his head, trying to get a grip of himself to get out of this situation./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"He stuck a hand out, his palm facing the man hoping to communicate that he wasn't going to put up with it anymore. His other hand reached into his back pocket, and he grabbed the cash in his wallet, holding it out to the offender, "There... that's it, right? Take the cash and go about your way. Please don't ever come to this church again." He hoped he would take the cash and just leave to do whatever he wanted./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The man had been getting ready to launch another blow. His teeth clenched tightly together as he stared at him with wide eyes that were swimming with nothing but rage at this point due to his poor cooperation./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"He paused once the other held his palm to him, his muscles slowly loosening from his position. He stared at his palm for a moment once he reached out the bills. He looked at him with narrowed eyes before reaching out and snatching it from his hand as if he was a meek animal. Once he took the bills, he took one last hearty shove to his victim's shoulder as to hopefully throw him off if the priest were to go after him because a moment later, he was running in the opposite direction with his winnings in hand./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Castiel was glad his mind was able to work enough to give him the cash and have him runoff. As the man took the last shove to his shoulder, he pulled a muscle with how it was positioned when he was pushed forcibly. He hissed at the pain shooting up into his shoulder and carefully walked to his car. Once he got inside, he took out his phone and dialed the police department to make a notice about what had happened. He wanted them to be aware of anything that occurred around the church./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Cas started the ignition and decided he needed to get checked out before heading back home. His collarbone and sternum were incredibly sore, and it hurt when he took breaths. Not to mention his shoulder was a mess right now too. He hoped some pain killers would help with that, at least./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The cash was all he had wanted in the first place, and he still was confused about why he didn't just hand it over in the first place. Although he supposed that he did give to commend him for the effort, he gave in not losing the money or the battle they had, at least at first until he had gained the upper hand in the situation by attacking with more force. He had no intention of remaining around the church for long as the man seemed like the type of person who wouldn't hesitate to get authorities involved considering what had just happened./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean, of course, was still blissfully ignorant on the situation is given that he didn't hover over Castiel's shoulder and didn't watch him twenty-four seven./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Before Castiel headed home to prepare for the next sermon, he stopped by a twenty-four-hour clinic and got checked out. When the doctor asked what had happened, Castiel only told him that the authorities would be handling it, and everything would be fine./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"After the examination, he found that he was severely bruised from the punches themselves. His sternum was a little cracked, but it had to heal on its own because of the position. The doctor said it might hurt to take breaths for about five days, but otherwise, everything was fine. It looked a whole lot worse with the bruising on his fair complexion. He was thankful that his uniform would cover it up./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Once he got home, he decided to do the last Sunday sermons on something related to this incident. He just had to figure out what it would be so that it wasn't obvious anything happened to him. He decided to get some sleep since the rest was functional medicine./span/p 


	6. Chapter 6

p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The dark-haired priest sighed, looking at his papers for today's sermon. He hoped no one thought it was an odd topic to be presented, but he was able to relate it to everyone. He still had bruises from his encounter with the mugger. On Sunday nights, there would be a police officer watching the property in case the man would show up again. It still hurt to breath a lot. Cas decided he would pace his breathing so he wouldn't cause attention to himself and act natural. He stood behind the podium as the crowd started shuffling inside and finding their usual spots./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean, for some reason, unbeknownst to him, was in a rather good mood. He had gotten out of bed and had energy from the second he opened his eyes for once in his life. He had gotten himself ready without negative thought or complaint about the attire or needing to leave his house on a Sunday morning like this. Even on his drive to the church, he had enjoyed one of his cassette tapes instead of leaving the radio off for the short ride like he typically would./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Once he arrived at the church, he parked his car and walked to the building that people were already flocking to. He kept his hands wedged into his pockets, greeting a few others with a faint smile and small nods of the head as he entered./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Castiel was flipping through papers and noticed Dean was walking inside. His aura seemed to be lighter and less burdened. The priest smiled softly, seeing him like that. He glanced up and saw everyone was settling in their seats as the church doors closed, signaling the service was taking place. He took a sip of water before greeting the crowd./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;""Good morning to you all. Today is the last Sunday of this month, so next Sunday, be prepared for less interesting morning greeting." The crowd chuckled a bit. "Let us start as usual with our morning song." He flipped the power on the remote and allowed the music to start with the lyrics./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean hasn't forgotten the irritating and aggravating experience with the confessional that had happened the week prior. Still, it was irrational to carry that into the next week, which was unlike his stubborn and grudging tendencies, but he was willing to let bygones be bygones for this so he wouldn't drag down his mood as well as others./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"As much as Dean was chipper, he still dreaded the morning song to a certain degree. He just wasn't one for singing a song unless he was in his car listening to something from his radio. Or was at home, and he was bored out of his mind and was reduced to such acts for enjoyment. He gave a brief chuckle to his words, recalling his first visit, which had been on that fateful first Sunday of the month occasion. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"He, like all the others, rose for the song where he murmured a few of the lyrics this time around, unlike the previous week./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Cas's mind drifted a bit during the song as he sang. He was happy Dean was here but was a little worried about their chat after the sermon. Dean was a sharp person, and he would know he was in slight pain from what happened still. Once the song was over, he turned to the crowd and cleared his throat./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;""Today's topic is Overcoming fear. I must first remind you that reasonable or normal fear is a good thing, a gift from God. On the other hand, abnormal or excessive fear is a monster which can paralyze and destroy. Panic is fear out of control. Any time your source of security is not strong enough to sustain you, then fear runs wild. The most common fears relate to matters we cannot control. None of us can guarantee success in marriage or on the job. Our companies could be down-sized or sold, leaving us without jobs. Neither our health nor the health of our families can be guaranteed. We cannot control our children twenty four hours per day, even when they live at home, much less when they go away to college. Therefore, if we are our primary sources of security, we will be tempted to panic."/span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean almost immediately dropped back into his former position onto the pew, leaning back with his legs comfortably spread with his hands clasping together briefly for his amusement before cutting to rest on top of his pockets. Dean so far hasn't noticed anything wrong, but then again, that could've been because of his joyous attitude at the moment, not to mention that the sermon portion hadn't begun yet. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean listened to his words. His focus is more prominent than usual due to his state of mind. He did understand the lesson being taught, but at the same time, it almost seemed like a shift in attitude from Castiel himself. There was some positive aspect that he had claimed at the very beginning of his speech, but that developed into what seemed contrary to him. Not to mention the topic wasn't easily controllable to some degree like his other sermons had been about, such as the previous week, which revolved around encouragement that should be given./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Fear was an involuntary aspect of life, and even if it could be harnessed, that still took focus and control and guts that many didn't possess./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"He continued with his sermon. "We become fearful when we doubt that our source of security is strong enough to sustain us. What is the cure for fear? The cure is to develop confidence that God is with us and is sufficient for our needs. That confidence is called faith. If I develop confidence that God is with me and is sufficient for my needs, I can laugh at tomorrow, because nothing can confront me that God and I cannot handle together. To believe that is to have the cure for excessive fear."/span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean could've possibly been overanalyzing the sermon. Still, for some reason, it just sounded different from him from the topic down to the mere body language Cas was giving off, which he thought he wouldn't have been able to detect given the fact that a podium mostly covered him that he spoke at. The next portion he was thrown off by was the direct comparison to himself and God with the situations and emotions he was referring to, which from his memory was something that he hasn't done in the past with his three previous sermons. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The entire thing just gave him an odd vibe, and he was a little shocked that no one seemed to notice, having glanced around at the audience members who all seemed to listen on blindly without any mild to moderate concern or suspicion./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;""As I conclude a close, I shall list some ideas that may help you with the fear you experience in life. Identify the fear and rebuke it in the name of Jesus. Discuss your fear with a trusted friend. A fear shared is a fear reduced. If possible, take a walk and tell God about your fear. There is something therapeutic about exercising out of doors. When one combines that with prayer, the comforts are powerful and profound. Keep a private journal or diary that records fears you and God have conquered together. With each victory will come additional confidence for the future. Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. So remember, fear is a state of mind, but you can believe and know you will pull yourself out of it. I believe in all of you and the Lord does as well. You may now come up and feel free to visit before you leave. I'll see you all next month to begin anew." Castiel stepped down off the stage and began the greeting process for the final time this month./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean, despite coming into the building every single morning with an open mind and the mindset that was solely based on a change of heart, was seeing the sermon as mostly bullshit. Despite the message that would've been recognized as full-hearted and inspirational information by others./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"It wasn't that he didn't believe Castiel's messages, that was quite the opposite when it came down to it, but this entire message just seemed a little off in his opinion./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"As families and others began to assemble in a small line to interact with the dark-haired priest Dean himself positioned himself at the end of the line, always have preferred that. He didn't need to risk holding others up, and there would be less people eavesdropping, which was a factor he always despised./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Castiel greeted as he usually did. There were generally fewer people waiting in the line as the month went by. This time, there were only six families. He lingered with the third family longer because they wanted to tell the tale of their trip to Jerusalem. He quietly listened and acknowledged them by nodding his head or smiling. It was fascinating, but he didn't want to keep the other ones waiting in line for too long. Luckily, they were aware enough to notice and waved goodbye before walking off. The priest greeted and prayed with the remaining three families and finally, Dean was in front of him looking directly into his blue eyes. He smiled, "Good morning Dean."/span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean occupied just time as he always did, except this time he wasn't stuck staring around the church counting the dots he could count on the walls, but instead, he was greeted by the job of occupying the small child in the family that stood in front of him. It wasn't as if they had asked for him to do so. More of that, the curious little boy had peered up at him and seemed immediately intrigued by tapping at his leg and standing on his foot or generally just making small noises at him. He, of course, humored the child, taking the sincere apologies from the family with a grain of salt as he did enjoy himself with it. Of course, the time came when it was their turn to speak with Castiel, where they bid their farewells, and then Dean had been up./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;""Mornin' Cas." He greeted, his lips sliding into a grin to the mere introduction. "Like always, great job up there."/span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Castiel's eyes fell to momentarily to the ground. "I know what you think since the topic was strange. Fear is not a subject I usually speak of since it can be taken so many different ways. I know that others who have been longer than you, know I preach a good sermon and they always relate it to God. You, however, are not like that at heart, and I welcome it more than what the beliefs of the others are." His eyes moved back up to look at Dean's and then quickly scanned the church, realizing they were alone in the building./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;""Come with me, please. You are the only person who deserves to know the truth of why I specifically did that sermon." He said, gesturing Dean to follow him into a spare room with a door./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean had planned to lead into the questioning portion of the sermon with starting with some light-hearted small talk, mostly because he wasn't all too ready with him to butt heads and question him as if he was running an interrogation like he typically would. Luckily however, he beat him to it and already mentioned the matter he was going to bring up. Dean's eyes wandered, following Castiel's as they scanned the church while he spoke./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;""Yeah. I was gonna ask about that. Didn't seem much like you think to go on about." He claimed, not hesitating to walk by his side and follow him to the room like he has requested for him to do./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The young priest quietly closed the door behind them and tried to make a joke, "I can assure you, I didn't close the door to interrogate you or anything weird. I closed it because quite frankly, you're the only one I want to know about this." He carefully undid the buttons of his uniform and revealed the bruises from the attacker./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Castiel didn't know why he trusted Dean so much with this. He couldn't put his finger on it. Maybe it was because he felt like a kindred spirit. Or perhaps it was because he felt drawn to him in a way. Whatever the reason, as he revealed his markings, he carefully averted his blue eyes so he couldn't see Dean's expression at what happened. He only hoped he wouldn't be met with hostility./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean gave a small closed-lipped laugh to his light-hearted comment regarding the ordeal of him bringing him into the room. "Even if you did try to interrogate me, you seem more like the good cop type figure." He returned, his demeanor easing back from playful to more severe and a little flattered in a way as he claimed that he was the only one he trusted with what he was about to do or say supposedly./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Yet again, his attitude changed once the markings were revealed to him, his face almost immediately contorting into an expression of confusion, questioning, and a wave of slight anger that was present primarily in the way his brows furrowed. He stepped closer. His eyes remain locked on the marking that lay on his sternum. "What the hell happened to you, Cas?" He questioned in a faint murmur, his hand coming up to brush his fingers across the edge of the uniform to peer across the entirety of his chest. His motions were slow and cautious, almost in a way that resembled him not wanting to startle him./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Castiel was still averting his gaze but looked at Dean's hand as he very carefully moved his uniform out of the way so he could see the markings more clearly. He paused for a moment before looking back up at Deans green eyes. "Well I was locking up the church for the night as I was the last one to leave that evening. I normally go back home in the early afternoon, but I was there to help with a wiring problem we were having." He explained. "I was locking up, and this man snuck up behind me. He didn't have any weapons that he pulled out. He asked me to get on the ground and give him my wallet. I got on the ground, but I did a leg sweep on him. We fought each other a bit while I was trying to defend myself. After the hit to the sternum and seeing how it was hurting to breathe, I just reached in my wallet and gave him all my cash I had on me. He ran off. I filed a report and went to the doctors. It's better, but it slightly hurts to breathe still." He carefully started to button his shirt back up when Dean was done looking./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean looked at the blemishes carefully, making sure to keep his hand away from them as to not possibly flare up any pain that would be caused by touch. He slowly shifted his gaze back to Castiel's face letting his eyes meet with his once the priest had done the same. He listened to his story. His eyes softened as he explained the situation he had gone through that had caused such bruises on his body./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean knew it wasn't anything he could've prevented or helped given that he didn't even know Cas was still in the church, much less anyone, at that hour, but at the same time he had this small, nagging thought that told him he could've somehow prevented such an incident from occurring to him. "Why didn't you just give him the money, to begin with? I'm not trying to criticize you on it. But you could've probably avoided the beating." He muttered, his voice staying soft and low, not wishing to raise it, given the circumstances and the story being told./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"When their eyes met, he found himself admiring Dean's green orbs and quickly diverted his attention. He mentally cursed at himself for doing that. He shouldn't be doing that to Dean of all people. When he asked his logical and straightforward question, he knew Dean would ask that. Cas had thought the same thing after the ordeal./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Castiel smiled faintly and chuckled at himself, "I...To be honest, that thought didn't cross my mind. As I'm sure you are well aware, your brain does odd things when your life is endangered. My mind happened to not be able to think rationally by just giving him what he wanted. Instead, I thought it was best to resist and try to make my way to my car to getaway. Clearly, that was a very reckless and stupid decision on my part...I take ownership of that. If there ever was a next time, I know I can't allow myself to do that again."/span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean kept the stare for a moment, only blinking to reset his vision and mind once Castiel had averted his blue gaze away. He knew he held the stare longer than he truly needed to, but he found that there was no harm in doing so. He thought that just giving them money was the most straightforward idea that would've resulted in no damage done, but he shouldn't be the one saying that given that if he were in Castiel's shoes, he most likely would've done the same thing in that scenario. "Yeah well, that'll happen when you're in that situation. sometimes your head just happens to pick the wrong action, or well, at the time you're going to think it's the right action." He explained. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;""You said you got checked out, though, right? After it happened?" He questioned, his gaze dropping to his covered chest. He didn't wish to sound like a mother or anything, hell he was the opposite personality-wise, just he felt compelled to make sure that this is handled properly and he wasn't putting any little things in jeopardy./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Cas nodded his head and gave a reassuring smile, "Yes. I did that after I told the police what happened. I went to a twenty four clinic and I got examined. I'm just terribly bruised with a small crack in my sternum, but there's not much you can do for that diagnosis. I didn't have any internal damage. I was ordered to take some pain relievers as needed, drink lots of fluids, and get a good night's rest every night. It is better today. It probably looks worse because of my naturally fair complexion." Cas was amused as Dean was acting like a concerned parent since he never thought that was part of his personality. However, he appreciated that he cared to some degree. The priest knew he would feel the same way if something ever happened to Dean./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean wasn't going to baby the other man or anything similar to that, but he'd show some form of concern given that he wasn't emotionless and would feel empathy for a hurt person who he was starting to see almost as a friend at this point./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean wasn't like this often, especially when it came to himself as he tended not to be one to care for himself well when it came to injury. He'd typically fight against it and try to prove to some degree that he wasn't in pain or he wasn't being inflicted with disease or any sort of situation that should cause someone to worry. "Well.. maybe try putting some ice on it.. maybe a heating pad.." he began to suggest while he scratched at the side of his neck. "I was an idiot kid, even more of an idiot teenager, so I had my fair share of bruises.. plus now I still get my fair share with the entire mechanic thing." He told him./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"As Dean started giving suggestions, Castiel smiled a little, seeing as how he wanted to provide advice to him. He stretched his arms out in front of him a bit before relaxing them at his sides. "I'll try some ice later when I go home, but it should clear up soon since I take decent care of myself. Even though I am a priest now, I had my fair share of mischief and trouble when I was a kid and teenager. All priests aren't saints when they're younger. Unless of course, they were raised very strictly and went to boarding school. I'm personally not a fan of those types. Just be careful that a car you're working on, does not fall on you. That would be tragic." He commented as his blue eyes sparkled./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean was, of course, genuine with his advice, wanting his best to help without physically taking over the situation or leading it into the direction he specifically wanted like he typically loved to do. "Yeah, I don't doubt that you'll take care of yourself.. you seem like you'd be good at that." He assured, he'd lips curving into a small smile of reassurance to boost his words. "Thinking of you as a mischievous little kid or teenager was both expected and unexpected somehow." He joked. He seemed like the type to know boundaries given the occupation and such, but he doubted that he was someone who didn't realize fun from his conversations with him." Dean gave a small chuckle, his lips staying pulled into a light smile. "Don't worry. It hasn't happened yet so it shouldn't happen." He assured, his eyes moving to lock with his once again./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The smile on his face only widened to the look in his eyes, it drawing an undeniable happiness from him for some unknown reason./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The priest chuckled at Dean's comment about it being expected and unexpected during his kid and teenage years. He had planned on sharing some memories with him someday, but now was not the best time for that. He was glad that nothing terrible had happened at the mechanic shop yet regarding people getting injured of equipment malfunctioning. He noticed Dean had a smile on his face more than not during this conversation, and Cas felt happy for him. He scratched the back of his head, not knowing when an appropriate time to end the talk was./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;""I'm not great at knowing when we are supposed to end our idle chats. Honestly, I could keep talking to you all day. I never want to keep you from doing anything you need though. After you leave, I'll only be straightening up a few things before I head back home. Just making sure everything is tidy for the next priest that comes in. Nothing exciting or to write home about."/span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean had expected to one day share something with the priest that was more personal than just small talk given the way their interactions had gone so far. And with the way their relationship was developing further, which he technically had already done to some degree with the confessional service a few weeks prior which despite it being one-sided and vague did count as something. Dean was a little carefree with his job, merely seeing it as an activity he did to earn money more than a possible hazard. He had gotten lazy when it came with things in that aspect, but he was still living to see the next day, so there was no exact problem in his eyes./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean was decently more happy considering the interaction had turned positive and enjoyable. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy helping and commenting on the more negative matter on his attack, but this was more light-hearted for apparent reasons. "Trust me, you don't need to worry about that. Sunday's are like a free day except coming here for the morning." He assured, his eyes wandering briefly to the surroundings of the room. "I'm assuming you'd have it handled, you're an adult that can handle yourself after all, but do you need any help with whatever it is you're gonna do?" He asked, deciding to at least extend the offer just to be polite./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Castiel felt relieved when he heard Dean said Sundays are a free day to him. He wanted to spend more time with him and get to know each other better; develop their friendship more. Cas didn't want to sound needy or even clingy. He nodded his head, "Well, it would go a lot faster with an extra set of hands even if I'm perfectly capable. I only have a few things to do around here: Snuff out the candles, straighten up the books, making sure the electronics are turned off and checking to see if anything was left after this morning's sermon. Sometimes we have to put items in the lost and found. The candles take the longest since we have a bunch of them around the building."/span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The priest walked over to a table in the room and grabbed the tool used to take out the flames safely. It was specially designed to avoid issues with blowing on the fresh, hot wax. "I've been called the Lightbearer as a nickname before since I both light and extinguish all the candles," he laughed softly./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean had the luxury of having the day off due to the owner of the garage he worked at enjoying his Sunday off, so he called off working hours as a whole for that particular day. Dean quite honestly did enjoy the company, it gave him something to do and finally giving him someone to get closer to./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;""Well everything is easier with an extra set of hands." He said with a brief chuckle, his hands moving to shove into his pockets. He listened to the listed off chores that would need to be finished before they could leave the church. "Sounds easy enough." He wondered briefly, his boots tapping against the floor, the noise echoing in the room as it was quiet except for their voices filling the corners when they would speak. "The Lightbearer?" He repeated with a quirked brow, his eyes looking to the ground as he laughed under his breath, "Has a nice ring to it, Cas." He complimented./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Castiel began extinguishing the few candles in the room they were in. He smiled at Dean's amusement to his nickname. "I'm guessing I received the nickname because I light and snuff out the candle flames without being asked to. I started doing that when I first came here because I thought it looked more beautiful. The 'Lightbearer' seems a little extravagant, but I'm not opposed to it," he chuckled, showing his bright smile./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Once the candles were all out in the room they were in, Cas guided them out into the main room where all the sermons were held. He paused and looked around. "I seem to keep forgetting how many candles there are. Unfortunately, I only have one of these tools. If you would be kind enough to check under the pews for any belongings, I'd appreciate it."/span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The nickname had an extravagant ring to it as Castiel had said, but to Dean, it had a certain ring to it and fit him but also was rather humorous. "So you're like the sun in a way just scaled down. The bearer of light." He joked, walking with him and positioning himself to lean against a pew absentmindedly as he watched Castiel go around with the little tool and began to snuff the candles./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;""Well there would be less if you didn't light all of them." He pulled himself away from the pew per Castiel's request for him to search the benches. The green-eyed man was already strolling down the isles to search for any misplaced belongings, taking the time to fix a few bibles that lay tilted or out of the holdings of the back of the pew in front of it./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The priest bobbed his head side to side, agreeing with Dean's observation about lighting less candles. "I have tried lighting every other candle, and for some reason, it didn't feel right to me. I suppose you could say it didn't give off as much ambiance." Halfway through devouring the flames with the tool, he laughed softly to himself. "I once almost caused a fire in this room before the morning service. It was when I first started lighting the candles. I got a little excited about the act of lighting the candles and knocked one over onto the floor. Thankfully I was able to stomp off the flame on the rug before it got out of control."/span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Once all the candles were extinguished, Castiel walked over to the aisle and straightened up the rug./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;""I can understand that. It's kinda like half-assing a job and not liking the results because it doesn't look good or doesn't work just as right." He claimed, dipping his head down as he lowered to his knees to reach below a pew, pulling out a pullover jacket from below it. He clutched it in his fingers, continuing his search for misplaced and lost items. "Only you could get excited over lighting a bunch of candles for sermons." He teased, his hand moving to brush across the jacket in his hand without thought. He circled, walking into the last row to check for any lost items that he'd have to put in lost and found./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Cas chuckled at Dean's joke about his candle lighting, "You may be right. That and a lot of other things that only I could get excited over. Another thing would be getting a cherry on my ice cream sundaes. I haven't treated myself to one in a while, though." He dusted off his pants with his hands before looking up to see that Dean had found a lost article of clothing. "Oh the box is over at the entryway back near the front doors. It's sort of hidden by the statue of an angel over there. I've only ever found pieces of clothing, mainly clothes for small children."/span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The priest looked around the room before feeling satisfied with the work they had done together. He was right that it would go faster with Dean's help. All of the electronics were off as he now clicked off the projector screen with the remote./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean smiles at his shoes to his follow up remark once Dean had commented about his happy behavior, his claim of being happy about other things like that being one of the wholesome things he could easily see from someone like Cas. "Why's that? It's nice to have something like that now and then." He gripped the article of clothing firmer in his fingers, turning to look towards the area where Castiel was describing before turning fully to approach the space and gingerly placed the jacket inside the box that had other lost items that had yet to be claimed by their owners./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Of course, Dean didn't know how long the tasks frequently took on his own, but he liked to think that he helped a little or helped bide the time better through interaction. "I think we did a pretty grand job if I say so myself."/span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The priest scratched his head at Dean's question, "Haha, I suppose for most people, it's hard to find joy in the small things of life. It depends on the individual and what they're going through as well. I suppose I feel if I were annoyed at everything, I'd be a bitter person, much like my father. I'd rather not head down that path if you catch my drift."/span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Cas walked up closer to Dean and looked into his green eyes. He smiled and placed his hands at his sides, "Thank you, it would have taken about twice the amount of time by myself. That means we can leave earlier together to do what we need to do for the week. I've nothing else today, though." He mentally made a grocery list in his head and figured he was okay until tomorrow to go out shopping for a few items. That was the only thing he would need to do, if anything at all./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean merely hummed at his answer in a mixture of response and understanding, mostly focusing on the little task of making sure he honestly didn't miss anything in his search for missing items in the areas where patrons had been located earlier in the morning when sermons and interactions had taken place./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean lowered his eyes briefly, a chucking falling softly from his lips before his gaze raised again to connect his sight with Castiel's once again. "Don't worry about it. If checking under a few wooden benches is all it takes to cut your workload in half, then I wouldn't mind doing it every single time." Dean's fingers fumbled to flatten against his hip for him to slide it into his pocket, his fingers curling around his car keys where he played with the smooth, cold metal ring of it. "Suppose Sunday's are pretty easy for you after all the sermon things." He noted out loud, figuring that this was the most work he needed to do that wasn't something such as shopping or cleaning up around the house./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"His blue eyes met Dean's green ones, "I wouldn't ask you to do that every time, I'm sure there's at least a few things you want to get done before heading home that aren't these small chores, but I do appreciate the gesture." He smiled warmly. Castiel's right hand fell into his pants pocket, and he found a mint with his fingers. He grabbed it and pulled it out, "Oh, didn't know that was in there...Usually Sundays are easy for me. I ran through a list of groceries in my head, but I can wait and get those tomorrow sometime since I still have leftover stir fry I made." He didn't consider himself a chef by any means; more of an experimentalist, seeing what tastes good together and what combinations to stay away from./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Deans stare softened to a certain degree to the act of Cas connecting his stare with his, him having no reason to be stolid or purely solemn in this particular moment because he genuinely was enjoying himself and the interaction with the priest. "Trust me. There isn't much to get done when you live alone, and you're low maintenance." It was valid to the extent that his tasks were pretty easy, only needing to clean and do laundry or shop for items on the rare occasion, and it wasn't like he needed to go through the stresses of take-home paperwork with the line of work that he was in. "See, typically, I end up holding that off until I've realized I've eaten nothing but take out or pasta for a few days, and I need to switch it up before my organs kick the bucket on me." He joked. "Sounds interesting, though. Cooking is a hit or miss with me. Either it comes out burnt or alright." He mindlessly admitted. "I'd love to keep talking, but I wouldn't want to suck up all the time that you saved by having me help to chew off your ear." He began to claim. He honestly could stand here and go off about random things, but he wouldn't want to put the other through such a thing./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The priest smiled at how Dean considered himself to be low maintenance. That's the way Castiel had always described himself in the past. He found himself a sufficient person as he's been living alone since he was eighteen./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;""Well I hoped you haven't had your organs kick the bucket on you a bunch of times. Heard it's not good for digestion." He smiled. "Don't worry about wasting my time. My door and ears are always open to you, even if its random topics or we play a game of twenty questions with each other. Maybe some other time though? I'll just change shirts and grab my car keys. Those are the only other things I need to do today. I hope we can talk again soon." Cas enjoyed talking with Dean. He felt like he was learning a little more about him each time they chatted./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"Dean had his rare moments where he could've been considered needy or high maintenance, but that was rare, considering most of the time, he could find solace in minimal activity and minimal items./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;""Yeah, trust me, if the organs kick the bucket, I might be in a world load of trouble." He laughed a little once he said his door was open to him even for something as small as a game of twenty questions. "Makes it sound like middle school again minus the puberty and tests." He noted. "Yeah, of course. Maybe I'll just take you up on the offer at some point, though." He said haphazardly./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;"The priest smiled and thought back to his middle school days. The only thing that popped into his head that he could remember was making those paper origami things where you pick numbers, and you're supposed to get an answer to a question. Kind of like a magic eight ball with the purpose of the toy./span/p  
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p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 11.0pt; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: #222222; background: white;""The puberty and tests were the absolute worst. Great, maybe we will play sometime together then." Castiel chuckled. "I'll see you again, maybe outside of services or next Sunday." He waved slightly and started to make his way to the back room so he could change and grab his car keys./span/p 


End file.
